Can drones deliver food aid?
A prototype being developed by a U.K. start-up aims to get food and supplies to victims
We often think of a drone as an aircraft used in wartime, but a U.K. start-up is developing one to deliver emergency food and supplies to victims caught in natural disasters and conflict zones. It sounds like a noble idea, but will it work? The idea Windhorse Aerospace, in southwest England, is in the prototype phase of developing the Pouncer, an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) that its inventors say will be able to fly independently with the help of preprogrammed flight routes uploaded to the drone’s onboard electronics. The Pouncer would be able to travel to areas unsafe for pilots to fly over, and remote locations that trucks or boats can’t access. The company hopes to have a prototype ready by the end of May, and the product to market next year. Flight plan Rob Forrester, business development manager for Windhorse Aerospace, a start-up that’s about a year old, says the Pouncer will be launched from a catapult, or dropped from an airplane or a balloon. It will have a loading system where food and supplies are stored in compartments that make up the body of the craft. The plan is to eventually make the Pouncer itself edible including, for example, its wings. Depending on the height it’s dropped from it can glide to its destination 35 to 100 kilometres. It will travel only one way and land accurately within seven metres of its target, Forrester says. The specs The team behind the Pouncer intends to mass produce three versions — an MKI, II and III, which would carry supply loads of 20, 50 and 100 kilograms respectively. The MKIII would be the height of the average male with a wingspan of about 3.8 metres. Since the MKII is the most viable — it will fit on a catapult, hang from a balloon, or dozens could fit in the back of a transport plane — the company will be marketing that version first, for about $900 each. The pitch The Pouncer — the largest size could feed up to 100 people for a day — will be marketed to NGO’s and non-profits that do relief work. No organization has stepped forward yet to buy the product, but at this point it’s a concept “until we show it flying,” says Forrester, of Windhorse Aerospace. Wealthy investors have given money to the project, and crowd funding might be pursued, he says. The doubts Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder of War Child Canada and a physician who has worked with children and families in war zones, sees some potential drawbacks with the Pouncer. She says studies have shown 30 to 50 per cent of food drops from aircraft are destroyed on impact. She believes the device might be better suited to natural disasters than conflict scenarios. “If not done properly, food drops can incite riots, and create hostile situations inadvertently,” Nutt says. “So you need to have good relationships, communication, knowledge and expertise on the ground.”